


Scent Of A Woman

by paupotter_4869



Series: The Most Important Thing. . . [14]
Category: The Last of Us (Video Games)
Genre: Father-Daughter Relationship, Growing Old, Growing Up, changes, ellie is ready to murder someone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:22:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28125312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paupotter_4869/pseuds/paupotter_4869
Summary: The day begins as an ordinary, typical day in Jackson. The bubble is soon burst when Ellie wakes up in terror. Filed under "stuff Joel didn't get the chance to deal with with Sarah".
Relationships: Ellie & Joel (The Last of Us)
Series: The Most Important Thing. . . [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2033674
Kudos: 26





	Scent Of A Woman

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own anything. All credit to Naughy Dogs. Enjoy !!

Joel tossed in bed and opened his eyes to a new day, surprised to see the sun up in the sky. As much as he wanted to admit it, he was getting on a bit. More than he’d like to admit, probably. 

Grunting under his breath, he got out of bed. His joints complained a little bit after yesterday’s exertion down at the farm and he jumped into the shower, confident that the sound of running water wouldn’t wake Ellie up. 

Once upon a time, he was a light sleeper, always waking up to meet the sun or, sometimes, earlier still—even before they had Sarah. And when she was born, six hours of sleep per night went out of the window. He woke up in a flash as soon as he heard a cough or mumbling or tossing through the baby monitor. That went on throughout her childhood and, whenever she called him across the hall, whenever she was scared of the darkness or if she felt nervous about the new school and new friends, he was there for her. 

The Apocalypse had taught him to sleep with only one eye closed in order to live through the night—that was the only way to survive more than two decades out there. That’s how he’d managed to keep Ellie safe, too, all those months traveling cross-country trying to find the Fireflies. Although, credit where it’s due, she’d managed to keep him and herself safe and sound while he was fighting death. 

The long and blessed hot shower helped his sore muscles relax a notch, although he was grateful he wasn’t on patrol duty or any other duties today. He put on a plaid shirt and jeans, going downstairs to prepare himself breakfast, looking forward to a peaceful, ordinary day at home. 

Here in Jackson, however, things had changed. He’d imagined he’d be a hunter or a smuggler until an Infected or a pissed-off human did away with him—but that’s not what happened. Things had settled in Jackson. They lived in peace, safe from the doom and darkness and threats lurking at every corner beyond those walls. Here, with Tommy and Maria, they’d managed to get some fucking peace and quiet. Commodities such as warm water, comfortable beds, and time to have breakfast were their new normal. And, as strange a habit as it was at the beginning, they were starting to get used to it all. 

House chores were also included in the equation, even though Ellie did her darned best day after day to elude those. Joel grabbed the laundry and started folding the pieces of clothing, in mechanical movements he hadn’t yet forgotten. 

One of Ellie’s T-shirts had a tear, he noticed. He set it aside to the pile of clothes that needed sewing, while trying to push down the gripping, irrational fears. He knew first hand Ellie hadn’t encountered any Infected in her last few patrols and the most obvious conclusion was that she must have caught it somewhere, as she so usually did. 

_“JOEL!”_ her shriek startled him, sending a shiver down his spine. It had been a while since she'd had one of her nightmares. 

He dropped all of the clothes and sprinted up the stairs. In under two seconds he considered the idea of stopping by his room first and grabbing a weapon, even a shiver, and then discarded the thought—to wake up from that nightmare, Ellie needed his presence, not his weapons. 

With that, he barged into Ellie’s bedroom. The scene wasn’t the one he was used to, her tossing around, on the edge of consciousness, struggling to break free from the sheets and blankets and her nightmares. 

Instead, Ellie was fully awake now, the light turned on, her face contorted by an assortment of feelings raging from fright to pain to anger. The reason for her freaking out was under the sheets. 

“What’s going on, baby girl?” he asked, frozen under the threshold. 

“Joel! I need Doc!” she begged him. 

“What is it?” he pressed, stepping forward. 

“I’m _bleeding!_ You’ve got to fetch Doc!” 

Joel froze again at that. Trying to breathe in and out deeply to counteract Ellie’s panicked state, he looked at the sheets, stained with blood. 

Well, that opened a whole new chapter in the ‘shit he never had to deal with Sarah in the first place’ book, he reckoned, hands on his waist. A long time ago, in an attempt to be up to date with Sarah’s development and her changes as a growing girl, he read about it and thought he knew everything there was to know. He believed he was relatively prepared to, when the time came, have such a talk with her. Twenty-six years since then. . . Not so much. 

“It’s okay,” he stuttered, barely knowing what he was supposed to say now. 

_“No, it’s not!”_ she replied. “Someone hurt me, Joel! Bring Doc right fucking now!” 

“Who did you piss off so badly that they would sneak into the house first thing in the morning and hurt you?” Joel replied, sitting on the bed, away from the bloodstain. His amusement did not do well with Ellie’s state of mind and he grabbed her arms before she pushed him out of there to get Doc. “Come on, baby girl. No one broke in. There’s no wound, is there?”

“My stomach fucking hurts,” she scowled, bending by the waist. 

“Welcome to your new life, baby girl,” Joel sighed, although he realized at that moment that such a term of endearment was not appropriate anymore. 

“What is that supposed to mean?” 

“I’ll tell you later. Now go shower, clean up, put some comfortable clothes on. I’ll deal with this and fetch Maria.” He briefly considered getting a hold of Dina, since the two girls seemed to get along nicely these days, but knew Ellie wouldn't forgive him if he did. 

“Joel, you’re not listening. I don’t need Maria—” 

“I’ll stop by the clinic, too, see if they’ve got some drugs you can take. It’s going to be alright, kiddo. It won’t be as bad all your life.”

“What the fuck does that mean?” Ellie shrieked again. “You’re freaking me out!” 

“Sorry, sorry,” he apologized immediately. Just thought it’d be best to have this conversation with someone who could understand the situation better, such as a grown woman who’d dealt with this stuff for a while now, or a former physician. “Simply put, this is just part of your growing up. Every woman goes through this sooner or later.” 

_“Oh, really?_ And how often will my body decide to fucking bleed on its own volition?” 

“Once a month, I think.”

“You’re _bullshitting_ me,” she scowled after two seconds of stunned silence. 

“Afraid not,” Joel sighed and then interrupted Ellie, whether she had more questions or curses to utter. “I’ll explain everything once I get back with Maria. Now, shower. Can you stand?” 

She looked uncertain and so, Joel gave her a hand up. Weak legs, she headed towards the adjacent bathroom. Joel stood there until he heard the water running and set to work. He grabbed the sheets and blankets from Ellie’s bed, then his own, and prepared a new program on the washing machine. 

With that part done, he put on a coat and left to search Maria and Doc. He tried to erase the worry in his eyes as he greeted Kristen from next door. 

There was another reason why Maria was one of his priorities. Maybe he could have handled the talk with Ellie, maybe not. Suffice to say, whatever duties he and Ellie had for today, whatever chores they were supposed to take care of today, someone else would have to fill in for both of them—Ellie was not up to any of that and he was not going to leave her side just like that.


End file.
